


The Game

by Decemberbaby1299



Category: video game - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 18:17:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13618959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decemberbaby1299/pseuds/Decemberbaby1299
Summary: This world is a game. The game. It's a lie made up of light and pre-recorded sound. It's just a game. There's just one small problem- I can't log out.





	The Game

**Author's Note:**

> This story isn't linked to any specific fandom. It's just a random idea I had. I hope you enjoy though! Please leave a comment telling me what you thought. I want to know what you liked or what I could do better. Thanks so much for reading my story!

This world is not real. It’s a game. The game. It’s a virtual reality, a lie made up of light and pre-recorded sound. Even the soft tap of my shoes on the concrete is synthetic. Even the image of my deft fingers working at the door’s locks is fake. And the high-value items I take once the locks have been picked, well those are fake too. This world is just a game. Nothing here is real, so why should a little thievery matter. Why should anything matter? Maybe nothing does.

A siren cuts through my thoughts. This damn algorithm won’t let anybody get away with anything. I drop the item capsules into my purse, this game’s version of an inventory system, and call up my chat bar. Quickly moving my fingers across the keypad, I wait until the first member of the security council warps into view. He charges at me, his large bulk turning him into a human wrecking ball. Judging by the way the ground shakes with each step, I would guess that he’s been juicing up on strength pellets. He’s so close now that I can see the Council’s Signet ring on his finger. He’s going to collide with me in 3...2… I smirk and vanish. I warp out of reality- well, out of the game’s version of reality- using a hack I picked up a while back. Oh, I can still see him, can still chuckle with smug satisfaction when his speed and my sudden disappearance causes him to ram head first into a nearby tree, but he can’t see me. The hack I used ensures that. In fact, he can’t feel me, can’t hear me- as far as he’s concerned, I no longer exist at all. It’s as if I logged out and left the game.  
With a final glance in his direction, I turn away, once again breaking into the game’s code to warp away without being detected. Usually, warp abilities are highly traceable and would lead the security council right to me, but I’ve never had much of a problem with that. Not since I became a code-breaker, and I’ve been one of those for as long as I can remember. Some people might feel bad for hacking into the game’s system, but not me. The way I see it, my ill-gotten special abilities help to make up for the one ability I desperately desire but can’t obtain- the ability to log out.   
That’s right. I’m stuck here. How did this happen? Well, I assume that I logged in one day and something happened that removed the option to leave. I say I assume because I’ve been here so long I can’t remember. This false life is the only life know. In our minds- me and the other players like me, the other code-breakers- we know that there’s a real world. We see people come and go from there all the time, players suddenly popping in and out of existence as they log in and out of the game. But for some reason we don’t have that choice. We’re stuck here. So why shouldn’t we cheat? If we have to stay here against our wills, don’t we deserve to win? To everybody else the things that happen in this world don’t matter, but to us- it’s our lives. So we cheat. We hack. We kill. We steal. We win. This world is a game. It doesn’t matter- except to us it does. This world is all we have, and we will rule it.  
I take a calming breath as I phase back into “reality”, banishing the storefront and all that happened there from my mind. The stretch of land before me seems cold and barren. That’s what makes it a perfect home for us. I step into a particularly dark patch of shadows, the one that acts as a portal into the hidden village we call home. Without a second thought, I make my way to the marketplace, seeking out the booth labeled “The Precious Peanut.” Gallius, the vendor who owns the dressed up cart is actually the game’s premier item pedaler. He’ll buy my stolen goods and sell them back to the idiots who play this game for fun for ten their worth. The players will think think that they’re getting an exclusive, limited time deal. I chuckle at the thought- and Gallius calls me a thief.   
I cross the town square, mildly surprised by the lack of activity there tonight. Usually, there are children playing games, and getting underfoot of the dozens of shop-keeps hawking their wares. It appears that even the store owners have decided to close early tonight. Odd, but not unheard of. What really surprises me is that Gallius appears to be gone for the night. I step into his booth which he keeps unlocked. Nobody would dare steal anything from Gallius. He’s a respected man and has the loyalty of some of the game’s most powerful players- who else is going to sell them overpriced junk? He must have done well today, his booth is empty.  
I frown. Something doesn’t feel right. That’s when I hear it, the energy build-up of a lightning bow. It’s one of the most powerful weapons in the game- one that was looted from Gallius’ stores. The realization hits me as the bolt of electricity tears through me. The empty stores, the quiet streets- the village has been raided. Pain engulfs my mind, making it impossible to think. No. This isn’t right. This is just a game, a false reality. dying here isn’t real, so it shouldn’t hurt. I scream and drop to my knees as I lose feeling in my hands. I raise them only to discover that they’re gone and that the rest of me is following. My body breaks away and shatters in bursts of light- and that’s when I know. I know why I can’t log out. I never logged in. I feel myself burst apart and fade back into the code I was born of. Like this world, I am not real. I am a part of this game. I’m a virtual being, a character made up of light and pre-recorded sound. I have been eliminated from the game, but I am not gone. I can feel it already. I will be remade as-

 

“Hello Player. Welcome to the Game. My name is Freya. I will be your guide and help you out until you get the hang of things. Let’s get started.”


End file.
